My Angel of Redemption
by Feisty Fae Phantom Gurl
Summary: Erik is finally given a second chance to start anew, but he will have to fight for the right to keep it.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Phantom of The Opera or it's characters, but I do own my OC's.**

**All Characters belong to Gaston Leroux.**

I hummed the tune of the song as I danced in a crowded park in Paris. Finishing my dance with a twirl, I looked around a noticed that the crowd was dying away. I sighed, they probably left because it was getting colder I thought. The clicking of heels and a voice soon filled my ears.  
>"Excuse me child, I rather enjoyed watching you dance." she said with a gentle voice. I gracefully turned myself to face the lady. I then saw who it was. It was the famous dance instructor, Madame Giry. It was my dream to learn dance from her.<br>"You young lady are truly gifted in the art of dance. You remind me of myself when I was young." she smiled warmly.  
>"Thank you." I mumbled, turning slightly red from her compliment.<br>"Let me introduce myself. I am Madame Giry, what is your name?"  
>"My name is Charlotte Lebuefo, let me just say that it is an honor to meet you Madame Giry." She smiled and held out her hand for me to shake.<br>"It seems rather cold outside, do you have a place to stay?"  
>"No, I have no home." I sighed; I had been living in this park since the summer, trying to make a living dancing in a crowded park. It barely worked, I had enough money to by some bread, but I never had enough to find a home. I held myself together and brought myself back to reality.<br>"Come with me child, you can stay in the Opera Populiar; tell me child, can you sing." I nodded and smiled, I was going to be living at the Opera Populiar, and be meeting professional dancers.  
>"If you can sing and dance, then you can be one of my ballet girls and a chorus girl." she motioned with her hand for me to follow. I smiled and followed. I was going to be a ballet girl. I thought about how proud my parents would be if they saw me now. We walked for about ten minutes, listening to Madame Giry's many opera stories.<br>"Here we are then, the Opera Populiar." she said waving her hands dramatically in the air. I was stunned at the beauty of the hall. So many golden decorations and the stairs were gorgeous, covered in velvet red. It was so amazing that I didn't even notice Madame Giry tugging at me.  
>" Charlotte, come with me I'll show you were you'll be sleeping." I followed her once again up the stairs to what looked like a dormitory. She then opened the door and patted a bed.<br>"You will be sleeping here, sharing this room with my daughter Meg and her friend Emma, I'll introduce you to them, but first let me run down and grab you some clothes to change in. Stay here and be careful." she smiled and closed the door behind her. I threw myself down on the bed, resting my head on the fluffy pillow and smiled. Finally, a bed of my own, I thought. I turned over on my side and noticed a small ray of light escaping from underneath one of the floorboards. I quickly got up and examined it more closely, it appeared there was a loose floor board and the ray of light was glowing from one of the corners that weren't pushed in all the way. Cautious as I was, I decided to push the corner down so no one would trip over it. I then found myself hurtling toward the darkness below. The room was dark except for the faint glow of a candle attached illuminating a wall. I picked myself up from the damp stone floor and walked toward the light. I sat, resting myself against the wall and checking if the fall had injured me. I was fine besides the small cuts and bruises, but there was one cut that was deep and stung my arm. It didn't look horrible it was just a slightly deeper cut then the others. While I inspected my arm, I glanced up and saw two green eyes in the darkness. I gasped looking for a way out, but all around me was darkness and the dying glow of a candle. To my dismay the candle behind me died out, leaving me in the darkness with a mysterious figure before me.  
>" mademoiselle, may I ask why you are down here." he said softly. I was then aware that it was a man, which both frightened and relieved me.<br>" I.. I was in the ballet dormitories when I found a piece of wood sticking out, so I pushed it and ended up down here." I stuttered. His eyes moved around the room and were soon staring into me.  
>"Fortunately for you, I know my way around these passages and I will lead you out if you swear to me that you will not snoop around here again." he whispered. I was enraged at the fact that he assumed I was snooping around in the dark.<br>" I was not snooping here; I just happened to fall threw a trap door monsieur, would you be kind enough to not accuse me of these things." I growled. His hand held my wrist now and he squeezed it with such force that for a moment I thought he had broken.  
>"Mademoiselle, it would be better if you do not anger me, I am your only way out." he then dropped my wrist and I held it toward my chest, making sure he did not do that again.<br>"And why should I trust you? I don't even know who you are." his eyes then disappeared, and his voice echoed all around me.  
>"I go by many names, but you may call me Erik."<br>I could then feel a presence behind me so I backed into the other wall. I could see his green eyes drifting closer to me, finally they were inches from me and I could feel his warm breath against my face.  
>"What is your name, mademoiselle?"<br>"My name is Charlotte, monsieur." I then took in a deep breath and moved myself from in-between Erik and the wall before he could grab me. I couldn't make out anything in the darkness besides the glowing green eyes that moved closer to me again. This time I held my hands out in front of me, stopping him from coming any closer.  
>"My patience is wearing thin, now would you rather rot in this place or take your chances with me. Make your choice."<br>I had to follow him, even if he hurt me earlier. He knows the way out, and he might lead you there.  
>"Show me the way out of the darkness."<br>Taking hold of my already cut a bruised hand, I hissed in pain and he lessened his grip and touched it more carefully.  
>"You're hurt." he whispered, holding my arm out while searching for something.<br>"How can you see anything in this darkness?" I asked. The sound of clinking jars and the tearing of cloth was all I heard.  
>"I am use to seeing in the dark, this might sting a little but it will clean the cut." I felt a strange liquid touch my cut and burn as if fire was consuming it. He then placed a piece of cloth around my arm and tightened it.<br>"Now I will take you back." he placed his hand on my wrist and led the way through the never ending darkness. We walked for what seemed like ages in silence, occasionally he would break the silence and ask me numerous amounts of questions like why was I hear, and I would reply to all of them. A small ray of light was seen from underneath what I thought was a door. He then placed my hand on the door handle and whispered.  
>"Goodbye Charlotte, this will not be the last time we meet." his voice soon dissipated in the wind as I turned the door knob. It seemed the door that I walked out of was actually a bookcase in the ballet dormitory. I sighed with relief and sat down on my bed. There was a note there, underneath it was a small pile of folded clothes, a purse with a small amount of coins, and a beautiful mask. The note read<br>Dear Mademoiselle Charlotte,  
>I am writing you simply because I did not find you in here when I returned. I must speak with you at once, but before that you are free to change. Be careful and I will see you soon.<br>Signed,  
>Madame Giry<br>PTO  
>I will explain why you need the mask later. <p>


	2. The Ghost Dances

I sighed and shrugged out of my old clothes and put the nightgown on. I walked out of the room and into the dormitory, bumping into one of the ballet girls.

"Oh pardon me, I didn't see you there." she said, while examining me.

"You must be Charlotte!"

I was shocked that she knew who I was, but I was in a hurry so I didn't bother asking her.

"I am Emma, it's a pleasure to meet you, there's been rumors going around saying that you're the new ballet girl here to replace Audrey." she pulled my wrist and I winced in pain. She then let go and examined it.

"You're hurt, come I'll take you to Madame Giry." she waved her hand for me to follow her, so I did. Everywhere we walked there were people in costumes rehearsing. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry, that I found myself bumping into many people; I even bumped into the lead soprano Antoinette. 

"Watch it you little cosset!" she screamed.

I nearly fell over because of that horrific sound. I kept walking, following Emma we finally managed to make it to Madame Giry's room.

"Hello there, my dear." Madame Giry said. I entered first and Emma entered behind me.

"Emma, shouldn't you be practicing. Why are you here?" she then shot Emma a glare before she returned a smile to me.

"I brought Charlotte here because she was hurt." she mumbled, afraid of getting another killer look, she decided to leave right away.

I sat, watching her grab a small cloth. I decided to hide the wrist that was bruised; I didn't want her to question how it happened or who caused it.

"What happened, Charlotte? The last time I saw you, you were in good health, and now you are cut and bruised." she wet a cloth and gently blotted my cuts.

"I found a strange piece of wood that wasn't fitted in the ground right, so I pushed it and found myself tumbling into a dark passage way." she paused and stared at me for a moment and then reached for the wrist I was hiding behind my arm.

She grabbed my arm, gripping it tight and gasped as she examined it.

"What happened!" she shouted angered. I stared at the floor and held my mouth closed.  
>"Tell me."<p>

I stared at the floor and mumbled the whole story of me meeting the man with the green eyes, and how he grabbed my wrist and squeezed it before he led me out. She then seemed to gaze off and glare at the picture hanging on the wall.

"My dear child, have you heard of the story of the Phantom of the Opera." she sat down in the red velvet chair next to me.

"In fact, I have. He was the man who made the chandelier fall, and also set half the opera house on fire." she winced when I said fire, so I decided to stop there.

"Indeed he was. The world has forgotten about him, but I think that after your experience in the old passage way he may have returned. Let us move on from that subject now and talk about your dance schedule for the week." she turned and handed me the sheet of paper.

It was a calendar. It had the times of rehearsals; it looked like I had rehearsal everyday from 6:30am to 1:00pm. I also seemed to have Sunday's off, and in December Christmas day was circled and had a mask drawn on it. I stared at it blankly, trying to guess what it meant. Madame Giry seemed to notice my confusion, so she started to explain it to me.

"On Christmas day, we are having our annual winter masquerade. That is why I gave you that spare mask, which reminds me, we need to measure you for your masquerade dress and your ballet costume for the performance." She called a woman inside the room; she was holding measuring tapes of all sorts around her.

"Now hold still mademoiselle, I need to measure you perfectly." she said in a thick Spanish accent.

It took for what seemed forever to be measured; she finally finished the last measurement with Madame Giry's help. She waved goodbye and left me and Madame Giry alone in the room. Madame Giry seemed to be exhausted, so I excused myself from her room. As soon as I opened the door, I found six ballet girls listening with their ears at the wall. When they saw me, all except for two left. Emma and a small blond girl, who shared much resembles to Madame Giry, were the two that stayed.

"Do you really think you met the opera ghost?" she shouted in excitement.

"Of course she did Emma, who else would walk in the underground passage ways of the opera house." said the blond one.

"I do not think I met the famed opera ghost. I am not even sure he is real, but I did meet someone down there, it was probably one of the stagehands."  
>They came running after me as I tried to walk to the ballet dormitory.<p>

"Hi I am Meg Giry, Madame Giry's daughter." she smiled and held out her hand. I gladly shook it and continued walking.

"Do you believe in the opera ghost." she asked curiously.

"I will tell you this, I won't believe in the opera ghost until there is proof he exist." she looked up at the ceiling and smiled.

"There is much proof of the ghost, we have many of his letters and have stumbled upon several hidden passage ways of his."

Erik POV  
>Proof of my existence, she does not know what she is getting herself into. I followed them slowly from above as they walked across the stage below. I had been listening to her whole conversation with Madame Giry and her other conversation with the insolent ballet girls. If she wouldn't believe in me until she had proof, then proof she would get. I sat up there thinking of what style of "proof" would I give to her.<p>

I then heard a squeak from the catwalk behind me. I immediately ran to the secret passage way near the end of my catwalk. Walking down the passageway in silence, I decided to visit the passage way that led to the girl's shared room. What was her name again? I thought to myself, how could I forget her name, it was only moments ago when she took your hand and followed you in the darkness. No one had ever trusted me, not even Christine. Maybe she was different from the others, an outcast like me.

I shook that thought from my head, had years of not terrorizing everyone made me go soft, I growled in confusion and made it to the mirror I was looking for. Peering in carefully, making sure I wouldn't look in at the wrong moment. I finally saw her, she was beautiful. Her black coal hair cascaded down her back in elegant waves, her eyes a deep chocolate brown and her skin was slightly tan. Her white nightgown reminded me of Christine, which hurt but also comforted me. I sat there and watched her as she retreated to her bed giggling about something one of the girls had told her. Her laughter was just adorable and her smile made my heart flutter.

Snap out of it Erik! I said to myself, she would only reject you like Christine had done. I sighed and looked up to find her fast asleep in her bed, I was about to return to my lair but I heard a scream and crying come from behind. I ran back to the mirror and watched her cry out in agony from her tortured dreams. Surprisingly her scream and tears did not wake the others and I watched, feeling helpless. I sang softly from behind the mirror, watching her slowly drift back to sleep. Maybe this would be her proof of the opera ghost's existence. I found my eyelids growing heavy from exhaustion, so I decided to fall asleep leaning against the wall as I watched her sleep soundly.  
>I smiled and thought; maybe fate has sent me a second chance.<p>

Charlotte POV

That dream, that dream seemed so real. Why was I being cursed with such nightmares every night. I was thankful that my dream had ended. It was horrible, there was darkness all around me and I could see a man. The man was tall dark and was laughing with a sinister smile. I knew what was going to happen next. I braced myself and heard the hard crack of a whip against me. The dream ended and I woke up with a scream and tears streaming down my face. Soon a soft voice drifted in the air, causing my tears to end.

The man was singing, singing from somewhere. I smiled and laid myself back down, the voice never stopped singing, I stared up and whispered "thank you."  
>I woke up the next morning around 5:30 and got dressed into my ballet practice outfit Madame Giry picked out for me the day before. I yawned and decided to wake Meg and Emma up for breakfast. They both mumbled and stretched, and then we heard a knock at the door. I ran to the door and opened it, and standing there was a man. He smiled at me and I couldn't help but blush, for all I was wearing was the small and partially see thru ballet practice outfit. He slightly blushed to noticing my outfit, and then he spoke.<p>

"Good evening mademoiselle Charlotte, I am the new patron, I thought it would be polite to introduce myself to you." he gave me a smile, while reaching fir my hand. He took my hand and kissed it, I blushed, then heard a large ping and found the patron covered in green paint, and I untouched.

Looking down the patron excused himself and I held my breath, and nodded, trying not to laugh at the green paint that was all over him. I closed the door gently, finally letting myself laugh. Emma and Meg stood there, watching me like I was crazy, but I explained to them what had happened and they soon joined me in laughter. Meg then paused, and had a look of terror.

"Meg, what is wrong?" I whispered, she stood there, unmoving, for more than a minute, she then started to speak.

"The Phantom of The Opera, he's here." Holding in more laughter I tried to speak.

"The Phantom is not here, it was most likely a stagehand looking for something to laugh at." I assured her. She stared back at me in disbelief, as if I was loosing my mind.

"Calm down Meg, it was probably a stagehand like Charlotte said" Emma was patting Meg on the back, trying to assure her that everything was alright.

"I'm sorry, it's just he kidnapped my best friend Christine." she mumbled. I gave her a hug and she felt better. We all decided that we should hurry down to ballet practice. Running, we ran head first into the leading soprano, Antoinette.

"Not that cosset again! Are you all blind, now get out of my way!" she squealed in that utterly horrid accent. Meg and Emma stood silent, but I was sick and tired of this girl.

I was about to give this diva a piece of my mind when a man's voice echoed through out the whole opera.

"A Cosset, Madame! Ha! Perhaps it is you who is the Cosset!" his laughter traveled through the whole opera, bringing fear to everyone including me. It couldn't be the opera ghost, why would he return after he nearly destroyed half of the opera.

It was probably just another stagehand looking for someone to scare, I tried to reassure myself. But it just seemed so unbelievable.

Erik POV

Well, now you did it Erik. You could have just held your mouth when that toad of a prima Donna spoke, but no, you had to say something. I watched all the alarmed ballet girls scramble to Madame Giry and everyone else run in different directions.

I had completely struck fear in every living person, but instead of laughing about it I just felt empty. I decided to stroll along the passageways to make sure all my traps were set. I passed by Christine's room, trying to forget about her was proving rather difficult for me, but thinking about the new girl helped.

I came by the book case passage and heard a strange humming, it sounded like someone was humming a tune, and I immediately sneaked around the bookcase passage, glancing thru to see who was meddling in there. I nearly died of shock when I saw who it was sitting there, it was Charlotte, she looked as if she was sobbing and trying to comfort herself by humming.

"Charlotte, why are you crying?" I asked in a rather pathetic and weak tone. I silently cursed myself for using such a pathetic tone, why did I even ask her, wasn't I suppose to threatening and terrifying.

"Erik, is that you?" she asked, her voice softer than usual. I approached her slowly, she laid there, her back against the wall, she was holding her knees to her chest, and it looked as if she was crying for sometime already.

"Yes it is, Mademoiselle," she simply just turned her back to me and buried her face back in her hands.

"Mademoiselle, you have not told me why you are crying." I tried to sound commanding, but it came out as an empty threat. She turned and searched for my face in the shadows.

"If you show yourself, I'll tell you." I sat myself beside her, tapping her so she was aware of my presence. She stared into my eyes for sometime, she turned away and whispered.

"Everyone is terrified of me. They all think I'm with the phantom and that at any second I'm going to call him out on people. They all think that I'll make him kill if I don't get my way." she sobbed, I felt so horrid, I had basically ruined her career and a possible friendship with anyone.

Why was it that this made me feel horrid, when I did it before I merely laughed and left and now I felt like I was injured. I had to comfort her somehow, so I did the only thing I could think of, I grabbed her and held her there, it felt like the right thing to do.

She sat there in my lap, sobbing into my shirt, I could not help but feel a little bit of happiness, I was holding a woman in my arms, and she hadn't fled or screamed, she stayed and held me too. It was a good feeling, but it was sad to think that I was the one who caused the tears.

"I am truly sorry about this misfortune; I wish I hadn't lost my temper there." I froze and realized what I said. She stopped her sobbing and looked back up into my eyes.

Her eyes showed many emotions, there was anger, hurt, hate, sadness, and the last emotion startled me, it was compassion. Why would she feel compassion towards me, even after I had ruined her whole career? She sat up right and raised her hand to my face, trying to touch my mask; I instantly grabbed her wrist, keeping her from taking my last piece of sanity.

"I understand," she said, lowering her hand from my face. She began to wipe her left arm, and I saw it. Her arm was full of red burn marks; each one was shaped like an F.

"How did you get these scars?" I asked rather impolitely, feeling ashamed that I used that tone and even asked, she would feel offended any moment now.

"I was living in London when a Gypsy carnival came to town, I was only four and my parents told me stay close, but I was small. I wanted to see everything, so I ran from my mother to explore the carnival. I was doing many spectacular bends and dances when I spotted a dancing gypsy. They were amazed at how flexible I was; I then asked the gypsy man if he had seen my mother. He told me to follow him, so I did, thinking my mother was on the other side of the door, I walked in and looked around. The room I was in wasn't a room at all, it was a cage. The man held a burning piece of metal and touched it to my skin, he told me that I was going to be his Flexible Freak in the gypsy carnival. I cried and screamed for my mother and father, but they couldn't catch up with the traveling cage. I held my hand reaching for them, but it was hopeless. The carnival traveled everywhere, and when it came here I managed to escape. The last thing I heard from the gypsy man was' I will find you my flexible freak, and when I do you will regret ever leaving!' I ran and made it to Paris." she seemed to feel pain as she told the story, and I couldn't help but feel relieved that she had something in common with me.

Lightly tracing the f on her arm, I noticed what I was doing and pulled my hand away. She looked at me with her chocolate eyes, tears streaming down her face.

"Aren't you going to leave me or call me a freak like the others?" she stared up at me waiting for my reaction to her story.

"Now why would I do that?" I asked. Her tears stopped and a glint of hope shined in her eyes.

"Everyone does that."

"Well, if you haven't noticed, I am not like everyone." I smiled, and she turned and gave me a hug. I did not know how to react to the hug, I was frozen at first, and then I slowly returned the hug.

"Now, Mademoiselle, do you wish for me to clear up this whole incident." I stood up and offered my hand for assistance.

"And how do you intend to clear this, good monsieur?" she smiled.

Charlotte POV

"You will soon find out." he whispered, his warm breath tickling my ear.

I opened the bookcase, and waved goodbye to my new friend. He waved back, showing a devious smile on his lips. I had to admit, I was rather curious how he would clear this up. The only people who believed I was innocent were Madame Giry, her daughter Meg, and my friend Emma. I was dancing with a passion I could not describe, it flowed through every inch of me, but I was tired of the frightened faces and dirty looks I was getting from my fellow ballet peers.

It seemed Madame Giry noticed this as well. I anxiously waited for the return of my friends, while I sat on my bed and read, for Madame Giry had given me the rest of the week off, feeling that I needed to take a break from the drama. There was then a tapping at the bookcase and it suddenly opened to reveal the Opera Ghost holding a letter in one hand, and a dark red rose tied with a black ribbon in the other.

I gave him a curious look then returned to reading my book. His face had flushed a bright red, that I couldn't help but giggle a little, which made it an even brighter shade. The Opera Ghost had slowly approached me and handed me the letter then twirled the rose in his hand before offering it to me.

"This is for me! Thank you. It is simply gorgeous, you must tell me where you get these from," I smiled and opened the letter he handed me. It was sealed with a red wax stamp, which was in the shape of a skull. The letter was written with very rough hand writing, but it was still beautiful.

_Dear Mademoiselle Charlotte,_  
><em> I am very sorry for the trouble I have caused you and I pray that you take this rose as my most sincere apology. You have my word that I will not interfere with your personal business any longer.<em>  
><em> I remain, mademoiselle, your obedient servant.<em>  
><em>O. G. <em>

He turned, walking silently towards the exit, until I spoke.

"Wait! Why don't you stay and keep me company until my other friends finish ballet practice. Please, it gets awfully lonely." he simply stared at me in disbelief when I said friends, I did have some friends and he looked at me as if I only had imaginary ones.

"What! I have friends!" I said in an infuriated tone. Erik stuttered and tried to make his words come out clearly before explaining to me why he looked at me in that way.

"I am truly sorry if I offended you Charlotte, but I did not mean it that way, it just sounded like you considered me a friend, and well, I've never had a friend before." he said, finally able to make sense of his words.

I smiled at him, and motioned my hand for Erik to take a seat next to my bed. He sat silently, unmoving and completely neutral. This was going to take longer than I thought.

"So Erik , what do you want to talk about?" I asked shyly, he looked at me as I closed the book I had been reading earlier.

"Whatever you would like to." he smiled, not as shyly as I did, but still shy.

"Well, let's talk about are interest in things first." I said, hoping this would be the easiest topic for him.

Erik POV  
>I sat, pondering the topic of interest, I was interested in her. WAIT, NO, GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF ERIK, BEFORE YOU SAY SOMETHING YOU WILL REGRET! My mind went blank, trying to diminish the thought I was in before, MUSIC! There it was, I had always loved music, and even as a child I saw music as a means for escaping the cruel and unforgiving world.<p>

"Well, I love music." I said a smile shined brightly across her face, causing me to smile as well.

"I love music as well, but dancing is my true passion." she twirled gracefully as she spoke.

"Really, why don't you show me one of your favorite pieces to dance to." She nodded, walking to a clear part in the room and gracefully twirled, stopping the twirl with an elegant wave of her hand, she then started the dance.

She would twirl then stop, waving her body in different was that I thought were humanely impossible to achieve, but she made it look simply stunning. Eventually she started to sing the tune she was dancing to. It was that Masquerade song.

Even though I hated being reminded of that day, it was quite relaxing listening to that familiar tune and watching her dance to it. Suddenly she stopped, but I knew that the song should have been longer. She smiled as I applauded her for the amazing performance.

"That was simply stunning my dear, you truly have a gift." She bowed and took a hold of my hand.

"What are you doing?" I questioned. She simply held my hand and brought me next to her.

"I am still not finished with the dance, Monsieur." She placed my hand around her waist and rested her other hand on my shoulder.

"I need a partner for the other half." Charlotte waited for me to take her other hand in mine, so I did.

"There is one problem, mademoiselle, I cannot dance."

"Just follow my lead, Monsieur, and you will be fine."

We twirled around fast, periodically stopping and twirling the opposite way. I began to feel nauseous, and I gripped her waist tighter, afraid I might tumble over. She looked up at me and smiled, trying to reassure me that I would be fine.

It amazed me how this woman seemed to calm me with just her smile. Our dance then came to an end, and I couldn't help but be a little sad about it. That dance made me feel like I wasn't alone in the world, that I had someone I could be with, someone that knew my pain, and that was Charlotte, ma petite danseuse. She startled me when she laid a kiss on my cheek. It warmed my cheek and sent a weird feeling my stomach.

It was a feeling I had never really experienced, but it was a pleasant one. I stood there shocked that she would even try to kiss me, even if it were on the cheek. No one had dared to kiss me, and Christine had only done so to save her precious Vicomte. My thoughts were then interrupted by a hand waving in front of my face. Charlotte stood there, her hands on her hips, glaring at me.

"I'm sorry, did I do anything to offend you, my dear." I stared at the floor.

"You did nothing, Erik, it is just you weren't speaking to me when I asked you a question."

"Well, what was the question again?" I asked shyly, she stared back up to me and rubbed her temples.

"I asked you if you enjoyed dancing with me." she mumbled, sitting on her bed and motioned for me to sit next to her. I gladly took a seat beside her on the plush bed.

"Yes, I did enjoy that dance, it was splendid!" I answered. Charlotte placed her hands in mine, surprising me.

"Do you mind visiting me again tomorrow?" she asked,


	3. That Night

"I would love to, Mademoiselle Charlotte." It made me smile to think that someone actually enjoys my company. She stared at the grandfather clock against the wall and sighed.

"My other friends will be here soon."  
>She mumbled, I held her face closer to mine and whispered.<p>

Charlotte POV

"Until next time." he whispered. His voice sent chills through me, then just like that he was gone. The warmth of his hand still lingered there, but soon dissipated just like he seemed to do.I stood there, waiting for the arrival of my friends. A knock came to the door, so I opened it. To my surprise it was the patron again. He smiled and I smiled as well.  
>"Hello again, Mademoiselle Charlotte, I did not get to introduce myself. I am Lance Cardinal," he bowed, taking my hand and kissing it.<br>"I was wondering if you would like to join me for dinner tonight. I heard the many rumors about you working with the opera ghost, and I assure you that I have many people clearing that up. I thought maybe lunch outside the opera house would help calm the stress you must be going through." he smiled, releasing my hand and looking at me with his bright blue eyes.  
>"How sweet, I would be delighted to join you. Around what time will we be off?"<p>

"Let us say around 7:00, I will pick you up here." he bowed once again and left me to my friends, who were all hiding behind a wall the whole time I was speaking with Lance. Meg and Emma congratulated me in successfully wooing the patron. I just laughed along to their random ideas on how I should act around Lance. By what they said, Lance was a high class British theater lover who came to Paris to experience the famous Opera Garnier's spectacular shows when one of the managers offered him a place as the new patron.

"They say he is rich beyond imagination." squealed Meg in delight.

"He also happens to be a hopeless romantic." sighed Emma.

"And you'll have him all to yourself tonight, what a lucky girl you are!"  
>Tonight! Tonight! What was I going to do, I had nothing good enough to wear to dinner tonight.<p>

" I have nothing to wear tonight!"  
>I panicked, then Meg clutched my shoulder.<p>

"You can go buy a dress in town. They have very beautiful dresses there!"

I nodded, I was safe now, so I decided to go dress shopping as soon as I could.I dressed in my common dress that Madame Giry had given me and headed out the door. I walked down the streets of Paris, until I came to a cute little dress shop. They had many adorable dressed, but I found a beautiful red one. I bought it and was soon on my way home, when I caught sight of a little music box in the window sill. I heard the footsteps behind me, so I turned and saw her. Teelan, the tigres from the old gypsy carnival I ran away from.

"So, it has been a while since the last time I saw you, " she smiled evilly and came closer to me. I dropped my bags and pulled the knife that was hiding in my boot, pinning her to the wall with it against her throat.  
>"What do you want." I watched her carefully, ready to strike if she moved.<p>

"What's wrong, I can't come by just to say hi?" she smiled. Teelan stood there , her tail reaching up toward me.  
>"Don't try anything funny with me." I said, pushing the knife closer.<p>

"He's back in Paris, Charlotte. And he wants his number one star, but you know what I'll do for you," her claw flung up toward my face, dodging, I rolled to the side.

"I'll kill you before he finds you again." she smiled, getting ready to pounce.

"You mean you'll kill me so he will have you as the next best thing."  
>She growled and leaped.<br>I threw the knife I had at her, but her tail caught it before it could hit. She threw the knife over her shoulder, then proceeded to approach me. I spotted the knife and thought that I could reach it if I rolled. While she came closer I rolled, but she was fast and kicked the knife back more.

"What a pathetic attempt, well darling, it is time to say goodnight." her claws slowly came towards my neck, then I saw a shadow knock Teelan over to the side of the wall. I stood up quickly and dived for my knife, flipping up right and landing next to the man who had saved my life. I looked at the now unconscious Teelan, and looked back at the man. He was wearing all black and was wearing a hood. I jumped on him and pinned him to the ground, holding the knife to his throat.

"Who are you and why did you help me?" I threw his hood back and was shocked to see who it was. It was Erik. I immediately got off him and helped him stand.

"Sorry, I'm just a little jumpy right now. But how did you know I was here?" he smiled and tapped his ear.

"In my opera house, I hear everything," his smile then turned into a straight face. "I even heard about your little date with the patron." he crossed his arms against his chest, like most father figures did. I turned, picked up my dress and started walking back home, I did not need Erik interrogating me about Lance now.  
>Erik turned towards me and grabbed my wrist.<p>

"Wait, you did not tell me about your your date with that.."

"That man happens to be very sweet, and I thought that maybe getting outside the opera house would do me some good." I answered, tugging my arm out of his grip. Teelan started to move again, so Erik grabbed a needle and injected her with something.

"What is that?" Erik stood up, pushing me to walk toward the opera house.

"Sedatives, she'll be out for awhile, and just a quick question. Who is she and why does she want to kill you?"

"Her name is Teelan better known as tigres from that Gypsy carnival, apparently He is in Paris and wants me for his show again. He sent tigres to get me, but she more or less wanted me dead." he looked at me in surprise as we entered the opera house.  
>"Here, come with me." he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward one of the walls, I pulled back, afraid of running straight into the wall, but his grip tightened and finally pulled me through. I blinked twice and noticed we were in the dark.<p>

"Erik, take me back to my room, I don't know what time it is, and I don't want to be late for Lance." I thought I heard a growl emanate from the area Erik was in.

"Fine, follow me." I held his hand and was able to find my way back to the room. Surprisingly it was empty, which was perfect. I started to get dressed. As I finished putting the dress and started on my hair, I glanced at the clock, it read 6:55.

" I don't have enough time to do my hair!" I was on the verge of panic when Erik tapped my shoulder from behind. I nearly let out a yelp from his surprise, but he held my mouth closed.

"I'll help you with your hair." I silently thanked him as he began to braid and tie pieces of it up until I had the most beautiful hairstyle I had ever seen. I smiled and hugged him tightly.

"You look simply beautiful Charlotte , the patron is a lucky man." he sighed as he tucked away one piece of hair. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and he blushed wildly.

"I think I'm the luckiest person to have a friend like you." We heard a knock at the door, and in just seconds Erik was gone. I ran to the door and opened it.

"May I say Mademoiselle , that you look beautiful tonight." he commented. His accent made me melt, but something about him reminded me of a person I had met before.

"Well, thank you Monsieur, but please call me Charlotte."

"You're very welcome Mademoiselle Charlotte. Let us go on to the restaurant or we will be late. I made a reservation at "La Belle Dame", I heard it is a beautiful restaurant with an amazing view." he took my hand in his and we walked down to the carriage And rode away to the restaurant.

The ride was long, but it was fun talking with Lance, he told me amazing stories of all the places he had gone, wonderful exotic places where others had never even seen or heard of. His tales were amazing, but then we stopped, he opened the door and lifted me out of the carriage, placing me beside him. We then walked to the entrance of "La Belle Dame" .  
>"Reservation for Lance Cardinal." he spoke with authority. The young man flipped through the book, finally finding the reservation. He gathered two menus and bowed.<p>

"Right this way, Monsieur Cardinal." The man then guided us up to a table in a secluded part of the restaurant. I turned to see our table and instead saw the Paris Opera House outside our window. It looked so beautiful from here, and just breathtaking. I smiled and just gazed at the pure beauty of the world, and then it came to me, maybe I could take Erik out and show him the view, maybe not from here, but from the opera house.

After the date with Lance, I found out that he was a very sweet man, but he isn't meant for me.

Erik POV

I sat in the damp and dark passageway, feeling the cheek she had kissed. The warmth was gone, but I could still feel the lipstick that was on it. I waited there until Charlotte arrived from her date, but remained waiting until she changed her clothes, which for some reason wasn't a nightgown. She then stared through the mirror, when I decided to back up from it so she wouldn't suspect me of peeking.

"Erik, I need to talk to you." she whispered as she pushed it open and wandered through the darkness.

"I'm over here," she turned her head to the direction I spoke, holding her arms out to make sure she wouldn't run into anything. Instead of letting her walk aimlessly through the dark, I grabbed both of her hands, pulling her to me, until we were practically hugging.

"What did you want to talk about?" I whispered, she smiled in the darkness and just motioned to me to come closer.

"Let's go to the top of the opera house, then I'll tell you." she grabbed my hand, and curtsied.

"Lead the way Monsieur, and I will follow." I pulled her very fast through the labyrinth underground, but for an odd reason, she would pull me back and tell me to slow down. Eventually we made it to the top, which brought back many memories of Her, but I pushed those memories aside, and tried to remember how long it had been since I had seen up there.

"surprise! Come, let us sit!" she said as she brought out a basket from underneath her beautiful dress. She began to set out a cloth on the floor, then with her hand she motioned to me.

"we are going to have a picnic up here! Isn't that exciting." she smiled dazzling and brightly as she stared up into the stars. I looked into the skies as well and was taken by the beauty of the stars and the city lights. Turning, I stared at her, her beautiful paleness, the rosy red in her cheeks, the perfect auburn locks of hair, I could finally see it now. She was my light thru the darkness, she was my missing piece, she is my Petite Ballerina.

Surprisingly, Charlotte curtsied, asking if she could have this dance.

"What dance, I do not hear any music?" I replied, she smiled slyly.

"One does not just hear music, one feels music," we held hands and I twirled her close.

"Every color of sound felt in your pulse as it comes together as one." I did not believe i could resist her anymore, but when the dance was done and our faces were nearly inches away, I could not find the courage in me to kiss those rosy, soft, and gentle lips. She looked up into my eyes, as I looked into hers.

"May we schedule another day like this tomorrow."

The time passed and got chiller, which caused Charlotte to cuddle closer to me. Soon I wrapped my cape around both of us, placing my hat upon her head as she giggled.

"This hat looks very handsome on you Monsieur." she giggled again. This caused me to laugh as well.

"Oh, the time is very late and you must get to bed mademoiselle." surprised at my sudden care of her bedtime she smiled.

"is it really bedtime already, where has all the time gone, I wish I could stay more." her smile was fading, so I swooped her up in my arms, and ran to her room to tuck her in.

When we arrived she was already half asleep, so kissing her cheek , I laid her down softly in her bed, and disappeared into the darkness.


End file.
